Yep. I even do them separately when finishing them in the same material.

Sanding blocks and awareness.

Thanks for the feedback. I am using a dovetail joint, so I don’t think I can floss the joint. At least, I haven’t had any luck in trying that so far.

I think I’m going to make a female joint to accept the neck and do my same that way.

If by paint you mean the finish topcoat, then yes. I do Osmo on the neck and poly on the bodies. That being said, even if I’m using the same finish on both they are finished before the neck is bolted on and extension glued in place.




Brad


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Agreed. The fretboard extension and bridge footprint area of the body are the only things masked so the fretboard extension and bridge can be glued to bare wood. Even then, some folks don’t mask those areas but instead route / scrape / chisel the finish away after the fact.


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So Hesh here has coined a term in the past called the "SQ" which stands for serviceability quotient. The SQ is higher when an instrument has been better built and built to be serviced into the future. The higher the SQ the more likelihood that the instrument has been built to heirloom quality.

That aside.

I don't know if we are speaking of an acoustic guitar or electric guitar with some cross over anyway. And I didn't read any of the prior posts I have to get ready for some errands.

All acoustic guitars for the most part if they and/or you live long enough will need a neck reset. Even Martin has in the past five years changed their policy on neck resets no longer covering them under warranty as they never should have but did anyway at great expense to them because neck resets are really something that should be considered a part of expected maintenance for any acoustic guitar. 5 - 30 years out it's going to be neck reset time and for a cut-a-way at times even sooner which is another subject....

There were two pro finishers who I used when I was building my prototypes but I sprayed my own with nitro when I went into production. One pro finisher wanted to finish with the neck on and one would only do it with the neck off.

When an instrument is finished with the neck on there is a filet of finish that settles in the neck joint making it hard to buff out and very difficult to reset the neck when neck reset time comes.

That filet has to be scored through with a knife and often will chip and flake making additional finish touch-up required. It's possible to do a neck reset with zero finish touch-up required so in many ways finishing with the neck on makes neck rests perhaps up to twice as time consuming AND that means more expensive too.

It also reduces the SQ of the builder and instrument and may limit what luthier you can get to service the instrument when neck reset time arrives since many of us are not keen to die from spraying toxic finishes for years and years....

Lastly what separates Lutherie from building a bird house is guitars are intended to be serviced in time and that is why techniques and construction assemblies such as a dovetail neck joints were used for over a century. Glues such as HHG were favored because we can reverse them and take things apart and even reactivate the glue years later.

When you finish the instrument with the neck on on an acoustic guitar where a neck reset is expected to be needed someday it goes against the most basic principles of how and why stringed musical instruments were constructed.

Build serviceable instruments and you will never regret it and it ups your SG and the respect that others in the trade will afford you.